Las Vegas to Zion, Bryce, and GC in one week in an RV

[Southern Sunshine]

Our family is taking the plunge- renting an RV for a week, starting in Vegas and planning to see Zion, Bryce, and GC- probably in that order. We'll have seven nights total before needing to be back in Vegas to return the RV. Any suggestions as to how many days to spend at each destination? I've been vaguely thinking :

Nights 1-2 Cedar City KOA for Zion
Nights 3-4 Bryce Valley KOA
Nights 5-7 Grand Canyon (Which KOA? There are two listed for Williams)

And an early start back to Vegas that last morning (5 hr trip? ish?)

Comments and suggestions from Road Trip veterans would be welcome!

p.s. This trip is a precursor to decide if next summer we really want to spend THREE weeks in one of these things doing the Denver-Moab-Yellowstone drive.

[Southern Sunshine]

Oh yeah- we'll be doing this the last week in September, if that's relevant.

[glc]

Welcome!

Why KOA? You might as well rent a car and stay in hotels! A KOA site can cost as much as a hotel room.

Go to the NPS.GOV site and look up the 3 parks. Find the sections for camping and see what they offer IN the parks and what they suggest NEAR the parks. All 3 of your choices are leaving you a pretty healthy commute to each park. Make reservations immediately.

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

I agree. You have the RV and you have the National park campgrounds, why add to your driving for a more expensive and less attractive camping experience. It's going to take up to an hour and a half each way from Cedar City which is 2.5/3 hours a day you could be enjoying in the park. The Watchman campground in Zion is close to the entrance and the free shuttle bus services into the canyon and to the lovely little town of Springdale. Just set up camp and enjoy yourselves with no driving. If there were no availabilities at Watchman you could check out the Zion River resort about 20mins away.

Bryce has it's own campground, but you could check out 'Rubys Inn' RV park. Right near the main entrance with shops, dining and 'Old Bryce Town' nearby. A shuttle bus takes you to the main area from nearby, but when you visit the other viewpoints head to the furthest first [Rainbow and Yovimpa point] and visit the rest on the way back. All the viewpoints will be on your side of the road and you won't have to keep crossing traffic to the pull outs.

For the Grand canyon you have the 'Trailer park' which has Hook ups, or Mather Campground without. Lovely setting and a short walk to the rim and village area. As said above look into available sites and if there are any, book asap.

You will have to pay an additional fee to go through the Mount Carmel tunnel between Zion and Bryce and you will have a short wait while they stop on coming traffic from entering the tunnel so that you can drive down the middle because of height restrictions on the sides of the arch. It was $15 [and I think it still is] but don't worry, it's quite an exciting drive !

Oh yeah- we'll be doing this the last week in September, if that's relevant.

Take some warm tops, night time temps can get pretty chilly, especially so at Bryce as it's at high elevation.

[Southern Sunshine]

FABulous! This is just what I'm looking for! How about time allotted to each stop? And we'll need at least electrical hookups - my husband needs a c-pap while he sleeps.

[Midwest Michael]

I think the time you've got planned is pretty good.

If you need electric sites, you may have to look at private sites, but of course, KOA is not your only option for private campgrounds. Dave suggested some very good other options.

Although also keep in mind that you can also use battery and generator power in the RV, so you might not be as tethered to hook-ups as you might think.

[Southwest Dave]

The Watchman campground has electric sites, but do not permit the use of generators so try and book an electric site. Rubys Inn has 'Full Hook up' facilities and so does the Trailer park at the South rim. You can use the generator at Mather campground but there are 'quiet hours' through the night, but as Michael mentioned you have an on board battery pack.

The one thing I might change is the second night in Bryce canyon and during the afternoon start to make your way towards the GC to shorten the journey, but it's not a big deal. Perhaps a night in Page AZ or nearby but I'm afraid I don't have any 'first hand' knowledge of campgrounds here.

Get booking ! ;-)

[Southern Sunshine]

Hmmm.. that makes sense. Does anyone have experience with either Wahweap RV and Camping, or Page Camping and RV park (both in Page- it looks like Waweap has a view of Lake Powell)?

[Southern Sunshine]

OK- We're all set for our camping stays: Zion River, Ruby's at Bryce, Page Camping and RV park, Trailer Village at GC, and the KOA at Kingman on the way back to Vega. I'm reading of the route from Zion to Bryce by way of Kolob Canyons. Recommended? Thanks for the information on camping spots!